This song appears to be a cautionary tale. If a man will not work, the result will be destitution. The individual in the story is simply described as "the man who moved". Being too lazy to till the land, he soon developed the mentality of a mendicant. Presumably, through the goodness of neighbours the family survived. However, the urge to move away came upon him. Having no land of their own, it was relatively easy for the Miao to migrate, and they often did, but never without proper preparation and provision for the journey. The man in this song had no food stock, so that when he decided to go, there was soon nothing to eat and no one to beg from. The only thing he could do was to sell what few animals he had and live on the proceeds. The song pointedly refrains from spelling out what the final result must surely have been when these were exhausted, but the formal, concluding line has a special eloquence.